Psychiatrists are in increasingly short supply just as the number of people who need their care is growing.

Mental health providers have been struggling to find a way to treat them all.

Now Bon Secours St. Francis Health System psychiatrists are teaming up with primary care doctors through a new program called Collaborative Care that reduces the need for psychiatric visits, officials say.

Advocates say it increases access to care, results in better outcomes and saves money as well.

Under the program, St. Francis uses consulting psychiatrists behind the scenes to review diagnoses, medications and therapy to ensure patients are getting the right care, said Dr. Carson Felkel, a Bon Secours psychiatrist.

“The key to this model is having the consulting psychiatrist talking weekly with the primary care provider,” he said. “So patients don’t have to see a psychiatrist so often.”

Psychiatrist demand falls short of supply

About 44 million Americans have a mental illness — 10 million of them with a serious condition such as schizophrenia or bipolar disorder, according to the South Carolina Institute of Medicine & Public Health.

But South Carolina ranks 50th nationwide for access to mental health care services, according to Mental Health America.

There were only 54 psychiatrists in Greenville County last year, just 16 in Anderson County and three in Pickens County, according to the South Carolina Office for Healthcare Workforce.

Dr. Carson Felkel(Photo: Bon Secours St. Francis Health System)

But 1 in 5 people will suffer a mental health condition at some point in their lives, Felkel said.

“There will never be enough psychiatrists,” he said.

Mental health care falls short

Four in 10 people with a mental health disorder seek help at a primary care provider anyway, he said.

But they get adequate psychiatric care less than 25 percent of the time — even though those providers prescribe 70 percent of psychiatric medications nationwide — because primary care doctors don’t have the expertise, he said.